Ice dispensing machine



M. DIETRICH ICE DISPENSING MACHINE Filed Nov.

Aug. 7, 1934.

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1934. M. DIETRICH ICE DISPENSING MACHINE Filed. Nov. 21, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Aug. 7, 1934 ICE DISPENSING MACHINE Michael Dietrich, Rochester, N. Y. Application November 21, 1932, Serial No. 643,637

1'7 Claims.

The present invention relates to a machine for dispensing ice in the form of cakes and more particularly to the loading and delivery mechanism for such a machine.

With the advent and increasing popularity of household refrigeration plants, ice distributors in many cases no longer find it feasible to maintain regular delivery routes and have instead established small ice houses throughout the district to be supplied. These small ice houses require'the services of an attendant, however, so that economy of this system of distribution is not as great as though automatic machines could be employed. Furthermore, the loss or shrinkage of the ice cakes in the smaller ice houses is quite considerable because the temperature within the house is raised every time that the attendant enters to obtain and remove a cake of ice.

Automatic ice dispensing machines for the economical dispensation of individual ice cakes have been previouslyproposed. However, the great difficulty in such machines is the tendency of the ice cakes to freeze together within the machines so that again the services of an attendant are often required to dislodge or separate the ice cakes which become frozen together.

Mechanical separation of the icecakes in their passage through the machine may be accomplished by providing ridges of ice or other material on the abutting surfaces of the ice cakes, but this precaution introduces certain-uneconcmical operations, such as complicating the original formation of the ice cakes or rendering the loading of the ice cakes into the machine more laborious besides rendering either operation more expensive.

The primary object of the present invention is the provision of an ice dispensing machine Within which the union or freezing of the ice cakes to each other does not hamper the operation of the machine.

Another object of the present invention is the provision within the machine of means which separate the ice cakes or break the ice cakes apart in their passage through the machine.

A further object of. the present inventionis the provision within the machine of delivery mechanism which permits only individual removal of the ice cakes from the machine and which provides a shearing action between the ice cake being removed and the succeeding ice cake.

Still another object of the present invention 'is the provision of a plurality of inclined guideways in vertical spaced relation within the matime breaking the ice cakes apart and inverting the cakes so that they are always in the same relation to each other throughout their travel through the machine.

A still further object of the present invention is the provision within the machine of brake means which are normally inoperativabut which are moved to operative position upon the opening of a loading door so that the ice cakes as loaded can not move too rapidly along the guideways.

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art or suggested by the particular description hereinafter of the ice dispensing machine.

The above and other objects of the invention are embodied in an ice dispensing'machine comprising a housing provided with a loading door and a delivery door, a stationary guideway having an arcuate portion and adapted to direct ice cakes to said delivery door, mechanism associated with the stationary guideway andthe delivery;

tionary guideway but movable by a wedging action ofthe ice cakes to ease the ice from one guideway to the other at the same time separating the cakes. Braking means are also located within the machine and, although normally inoperative, are rendered operative by movementof the loading door to open position, so that the ice cakes being loaded are retarded in their course .along the guideways.

Reference is hereby made to the accompanying drawings in the several views of which similar reference characters designate similar elements and in which:

Fig. l is a vertical section through the ice dispensing machine according to the invention'taken on the line 11 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the ice dispensing machine according to the invention taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail of the control means and actuating members to enlarged scale.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail of the arcuate portion of the stationary guideway and of the swingable guideway illustrating their relative positions during them.

cakes.

position from platform 20 by spacers 25.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail of the guideways similar to Fig. 4 but showing the relative positions of the guideways when one of the braking means is in operative position.

Figs. 6 and 7 are fragmentary vertical sections through the delivery door of the dispensing machine and illustrate the relative positions of the ice cakes, stop means, actuating member and door during the delivery of an ice 'cake'through the door.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the housing for the ice dispensing machine has a top wall 10, side walls 11, a back wall 12, a front wall 13 which supports a loading door 14 and a delivery door 15, and a bottom wall 16 which is supported by legs 17. The loading door 14 is pivotally mounted to the front wall-l3 of the housing by a hinge 18 and has'a latch 19 for holding it in closed position. An internal platform 20 is located within the housing in spaced relationto the bottom'wall 16 thereof. I A stationary 'guideway having an arcuate portionis located within the housing of the machine. To illustrate another feature of the invention, this'guideway is shown in duplicate and is composed of an inclined section and'an arcuate section. The guideways are provided by supporting the individual tracks 21 by suitable brackets 22 to form the inclined portions and by bending the tracks 21 back upon themselves to the top wall 10 of the housing to form the arcuate portions of the guide'ways. The arcuate portions of tracks 21 are supported from the back wall 12 of the housing by brackets 23. The tracks 21 are provided in pairs and are spaced transversely a distance less than the transverse dimension of the ice Drip pans 24 are located beneath each pair of tracks 21 and'are supported in an inclined The side walls 26 of thedrip-pans 24 are beaded and extend above the level of tracks 21 to guide the ice cakes in their travel along the tracks; Drain pipes 27'lead from a lower portion of drip pans 24 to exterior of the housing.

supported within the housing and has one end spaced from the arcuate portion of the stationary guideway'a distance less than one dimension of ported by the side walls 11 of the housing Brackets 32 rnay be fastened between the tracks 28 and members 29. Pins 33 pass through the ends of members 29 and hangers 30 to form the pivotal connection therebetween and also support lateral guides 34 which extend beyond the tracks distance less than the-vertical or longitudinal dimension of an ice cake. Such a resilient means may comprise a coil spring 36 which has one end fastened to a pin 37 on the side wall 11 of the A movable or cradle guideway is swingably housing and the other end fastened to a pin 38 on one of the U-shaped members 29.

Individual delivery of the ice cakes through the delivery door 15 is obtained by properly timed cooperation between a stop means and an actuating member which is moved by the door, while the shearing action exerted upon cakes which are frozen together is obtained by the proper location of an abutment'and the movement by the door, through the actuating me'mber, of the stop means to raise the cake being delivered as the abutment prevents the next or following cake from being so raised. The stop means furthermore tilts the cake of ice being delivered to assist is held in said blocking position by an actuating 1 member and is returned from unblocking position to blocking position by said actuating member. The actuating member is moved by opening of the delivery door 15 to return the stop means to blocking position, which position is attainedbefore the delivery door 15 has been opened sulficiently topermit the removal of the foremost ice cake on the guideway.

A control means cooperates with the actuating member and includes a clutch which is adapted to -f hold said actuating member in blocking position while the delivery door 15 is returned to closed position and which is adapted manually to be released, permitting the actuating member and the stop means to move to unblocking position of Said stop means is preferably composed of either or both of a pair of dogs 39' and 39 which are mounted upon a rod 40 extending transversely of the housing between the side walls 11;

A shaft 41 is journaled in the front wall 13 of the housing and extends into the control mechanism chamber 42. A sleeve 43, see Figs. 2and3, surrounds a portion of shaft 41 and also extends into said chamber 42. A toothed sector 44' is fixed to the end of shaft 41 and a toothed sector 45 is fixed to the end of sleeve 43, both within A pawl 46 and pawl 47 are said chamber 42. both journaled on a shaft 48 which extendstransversely of said chamber 42. Pawl 46 isadapted to engage toothed sector 45 while'pawl 47 is adapted to engage toothed sector 44.

An L-shaped lever 49 is fastened to shaft .41

and a second L-shaped lever 50 is fastened to sleeve 43. Each of levers 49 and 50 have rollers 51 and 52 rotatably mounted in respective ends and adapted respectively to engage dogs 39' and 39. The delivery door 15 is provided with apair of recesses 53 and 54 through which L-shape levers 49 and 50 extend respectively. I

The control means is preferably coin operated,

although the coin control mechanism has not been shown because any well-known type of coin control may be associated with the control means of the present invention by one skilled in the 'art. The control means includes a disk 551prov'ided with a plurality of peripheral notches 56 which are adapted to engage a leaf spring 5'7 for positioning of disk in definite locations. A cam member 58 having a plurality of projections and a cam member 59 having a like number of projections are mounted upon opposite sides of said disk 55with the projections on members 58 and 59 in staggered relation with respect to each other. A pair of arms 60 and 61 are mounted in spaced relation along a pintle 62 and are adapted respectively to engage cam members 58 and 59. Connecting rods 63 and 54 are connected between the respective ends of arms 60 and 61 and the respective intermediate portions of pawls 4'7 and 48. The disk 55 and/or cam members 58 and 59 are mounted to turn with a shaft 65 which is provided with a handle 66 and which can only be turned upon operation of the associated coin control mechanism, not shown. Pawl 48 is provided with a threaded bore 67, while pawl 47 carries a bolt 68 which may be threaded into bore 67 so that both pawls can be operated together for a purpose to be later described.

A latch means is associated with the delivery door 15 normally to engage the same and maintain it in closed position, but cooperates with the stop means to be released upon the movement of said stop means into unblocking position. Such a latch means may comprise a pawl 69, see Fig. 1, pivotally mounted upon a pin '70 within a recess '71 provided in front wall 13 of the housing. The upper edge of delivery door 15 is provided with a notch '72 adapted to receive the end of pawl 69 which is normally maintained in this locking po sition by a spring 73 in recess 71. A bracket '74 is located on the bottom wall 16 of the housing and is pivotally connected to a lever arm 75in turn pivoted to a lever arm 76-which is pivotally connected between the free end of pawl 69 and which carries a cross member 77. Thus, when the stop means, such as dog 39 or 39', moves to unblocking position, said stop means strikes and lowers the cross member '77 so that one end of pawl 69 is raised and moved out of the notch '72 to release the delivery door 15.

As an auxiliary feature, see Fig. 1, an arcuate flap 78 may be pivotally mounted by a hinge '79 to the rear of front wall 13 of the housing. Arcuate i flap '78 will be moved by the ice cake leaving the customers, especially children, from reaching into the housing when the door 15 is open.

If ice cakes are loaded into the machine when I all or all but on or two cakes have been removed,

the ice in passing along the guideways Will gather considerable momentum so that when it strikes the stop means or another ice cake, thecakes may be chipped or even cracked. Therefore, it is proposed to provide a braking means which will be operative only when the loading door is open for filling the machine with ice. As anadditional feature, especially incident to the construction of the present invention which includes a movable or swingable guideway, the connections between the loading door and the braking means serve as runners for conducting the ice cakes over the gap between the movable guideway and the front wall 13 of the housing.

The braking means of the present invention includes a bar 80 which carries ,a plurality of spring brake arms 81 and includes an arcuate brake shoe 82 which is pivotally connected to the walls 11.

nose piece 35 by a pin 83 and to which the bar 80 is pivotally connected by a pin 84. A lever arm 85is intermediately journaled on a shaft 86 extending between the side walls 11 of the housing. One end of lever arm 85 is pivotally connected to bar 80 by a pin 87, and the other or upper end of lever arm 85 is connected to one end of a coil spring 88, the other end of which is attached to a rod 89 extending between the side walls 11 of the housing. Coil spring 88 acts resiliently to maintain the bar 80 and brake shoe 82 in theposition shown in Fig. 1.

A pair of guide plates 90, only one of which is shown, are attached to each side wall 11 and are each provided with a slot 91. A pair of plates 92, only one of which is shown, are attached at one end to loading door 14 by a hinge connection 93 and are fastened at the other end to a transverse rod 94, the ends of which slide in the slots 91 of guide plates 90. A coil spring has one end connected to transverse rod 94 and the other end connected to the upper end of lever arm 85. Coil spring 95 is stronger than coil spring 88.

When loading door 14 is opened, plates 92 are moved into the position shown by dotted linesin Fig. lto form runners for the ice cakes being loaded, and lever arm 85is turned about shaft 86 due to the predomination of spring 95 so that brake shoe 82 is moved into the position shown in Fig. 5.

An abutment 96, see Figs. '1', 6, and '7, extends transversely across the housing between thesi de This abutment 96 is spaced above the guideway slightly more than the vertical dimension of an ice cake to permit normal free passage of the ice cakes, but is spaced longitudinally of the housing so as to engage the top surface of the second cake or" ice on the guideway as the stop means is returning to blocking position. The spacing of abutment 96 from front wall 13 may be more or less than the longitudinal dimension of an Assuming the housing to be emptyand both guideways to be clear, the loading door 14 is opened to load cakes of ice onto the guideways. Movement of the loading door 14 to open. position brings the plates .92 into the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1 in which position said plates 92 function as runners for the ice being slid onto the upper or movable guideway. This movement of loading door 14 to open position also swings lever arm 85 so that bar 80 is lowered and the brake arms 81 are in position to engage and retard the ice cakes sliding along the lower or stationary guideway. The brake shoe 82 is swung from the dotted line position of Fig. 5 to that shown in full lines, in which position the brake shoe 82 engages and retards the ice cakes as they pass around the arcuate portion chine may be loaded without danger ofchipping or cracking the ice cakes and after loading both braking means are returned to inoperative position by the closure of loading door 14.

The retarding and separating action of the movspaced from the arcuate portion of the stationar} of the stationary guide AS a result, the mar g ice cakes E and F, then as ice cake G passes along the movable guideway, it will come into contact with cake F and will remain in the full line position shown in Fig. 4, and the movable'guideway 'is-notdisplaced. When the foremost ice cake is removed from the machine, cakes E and F slide along the lower guideway toward the delivery door-15, whereupon cake G exerts a wedging or separating action upon the movable guideway against the action of coil spring 36. The tracks '28 and nose piece 35 are moved to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4 or that shown in full lines in Fig. 5. It will be noted that hangjers have swung about rods Bland that coil spring 36 has been extended. The nose piece is at all times resiliently held against the face of the ice cake G, however, so as to form a fulcrum for the inversion of the cake, and so as to keep the cake at all timesin contact with the arcuate portion of the stationary guideway. Ob-

viously, if the ice cakes have become frozen together on the movable guideway, the joint between the cakes willbe subjected to a bending action as the first of the frozen cakes passes around the'arcuate portion of the stationary guideway. The strength of coil spring 36 and the inclination of the movable guideway can be selected so that the bending action created will always be sufficient to separate the cakes which have become frozen together on the movable *guideway.

The operation of the delivery mechanism will next be explained. The customer wishing to obtain a cake of ice must insert a coin into the slot of a coin controlmechanism which permits han- 'd1e 66 and shaft '65 to be rotated in a counterclockwise direction. Upon the rotation of shaft "65, one of the projections on cam member 59 raises arm 61, connecting rod 64, and pawl, 46 which forms one member of the clutch included in the control means. Toothed sector .45 is rotated to the position shown in Fig. 3 under the weight of the actuating member, and the stop means, such as the dog 39, falls to an unblocking position, as shown in full lines in Fig. 6. As the dog 39 drops, it strikes the cross member '7'? to move pawl 69 out of notch '72 against the action 'of spring 73, and the latch means is released to door 15 to open position in order to obtain access to' the ice cake A, but in rotating the door' 15 must raise the actuating lever 59 which in turn raises'the dog 39. When the door 15 has been opened to the extent shown in dash-dot lines in Fig. 6, the dog 39 will have been raised so that its upper surface is above the level of the tracks 21 of the inclined portion of the stationary guideway. If the foremost ice cake A and the adjacent or succeeding ice cake B are not frozen togethergthen this raising of the dog 39 will merely cause tilting of the cake A out through the opening of the delivery door 15. However, if the cakes A 'and'B are frozen, as indicated by cake B will remain blocked until the control the dash-dot lines of Fig. 6, then this raising of the dog 39 will raise both cakes until the upper surface of cake B strikes against the abutment 96;

whereupon continued opening of the door15f,

which is necessary to reach the oake'paid for, will raise dog 39 farther and a' shearing force will be exerted upon the joint between the cakes A and B. The timing of the door 15, lever'50, and the dog 39, and the locationof abutment 96, must be such that the cake A can not be removed even by force through the door 15 until dog '39 has been raised sufiiciently to break the cakes A and B apart.

As the dog 39 is raised by opening the door 15,

it is also being returned to a blocking position with respect to the inclined portion of the stationary guideway. After the foremost cake A has been separated from cake B and tipped out through or onto the delivery door 15, the dog 39 is in a position to block or prevent further movement of the cake B toward the door 15. This relation of the lever 50, dog 39, and door-15 with respect to the ice cakes is illustrated in Fig. '7, the tilting of the cake A by the dog 39 being indicated in dash-dot lines and the presentation of the cake A to the customer, the blocking of the cake B by the dog 39, and the blocking of the door 15 by the ledge 97 on the front'ofthe housing being illustrated in full lines.

As the lever 50 is moved to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 7, the toothed sector is returned to a position coinciding with the position of toothed sector 44 as seen in Fig. 3, and pawl 46 has been lowered by the control mechanism to engage toothed sector 45 and maintain it in this upright position. Now'the return of delivery door 15 to closed position will not affect the positions of lever and dog 39, so that the mechanism has been operated again.

The provision of two sets of guideways and delivery mechanisms permits alternative operation of the delivery mechanisms, and delivery of same delivery door. If a second coin is'inserted to permit further rotation of handle 66, a projection on the cam member 58 will raise arm 61, connecting rod 63 and pawl "47 to'permit movement of the dog 39' from blocking to unblocking position with respect to the other guideway. The return of lever 49-and dog 39' to blocking position by the door 15 is the same as described with respect to lever 50 and dog 39. I

If the ice cakes have melted or shrunk considand 50, and both dogs 39 and 39' will be simultaneously moved from and to the unblocking positions withfrespect to the guideways. jUpon such modification, the customer will receive two small cakes in place of one largecake for a sin- 'gle coin, and considerable economy in the operation of the dispensing machine is effected.

Since ice is commercially provided in 25-11;).

and 50-lb. cakes, and since these two sizes only of the guideways. I All other dimensions being the same for both sizes, the novel featuresof the invention as here disclosed will operate equally well on either size cake. As a commercial expedient, the tracks 21 and 28 are preferably made up of ordinary pipe which can be readily formed and which offers very little resistance to the ice cakes in their traveltherealong.

Many other modifications of the invention may be obvious to those skilled in the art, and the present disclosure is considered as illustrative and limited only by the scope of the appended claims. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 15:

1 In a machine for dispensing ice cakes, the combination with a housing, a loading door and a delivery door therein, a swingable guideway pivotally mounted in said housing and adapted to receive ice cakes from said loading door, a stationary guideway adapted to direct ice cakes to said delivery door and having an arcuate portion curved around one end of said swingable guideway, said end of the swingable guideway A being normally spaced from the arcuate portion of the stationary guideway a distance less than one dimension of an ice cake, of a stop means adapted in blocking position to prevent an ice cake from being delivered to the delivery door and adapted in unblocking position to permit an ice cake to pass to said delivery door, and an actuating member operated by said door and adapted to move said stop means into blocking position before an ice cake can be removed H through said delivery door.

2. In a machine for dispensing ice cakes, the combination with a housing, a loading door and a ,delivery door therein, a swingable guideway pivotally mounted in said housing and adapted to receive ice cakes from said loading door, a

5 stationary guideway adapted to direct ice cakes to said delivery door and having an arcuate portion curved around one end of said swingable guideway, said end of the swingable guideway being normally spaced from the arcuate portion of the stationary guideway a distance less than one dimension of an ice cake, of a stop means adapted in blocking position to prevent an ice cake from being delivered to the delivery door and adapted in unblocking position to permit an ice cake to pass to said delivery door,

an. actuating member operated by said door and adapted to move said stop means into blocking position before an ice cake can be removed through said delivery door, and a control means adapted to maintain said actuating member with 75 venting in blocking position the passage of an ice cake to said door and adapted uponrelease normally to move independently of said door to unblocking position and to permit the passage of an ice cake to said door, and'an ace tuating member movable with respect to said door to permit movement of said stop means to unblocking position and adapted upon the opening of said door to be moved thereby and. to

I engage and return said stop means to the blocking position thereof.

4. In a'machinefor dispensing ice cakes, the combination with a housing, a delivery" doortherein, and an inclined track adapted to guide the ice cakes to said door, of a stop-means adapted in a blocking position to hold the foremost" ice cake on the track and adapted normally to move to an unblocking positionand to permit said foremost ice cake to move along said track into abutting relation to said door, an actuating member on said door adapted upon opening of the door to engage and move said stop means from unblocking position into blocking position for the next cake of ice, and a control means including a clutch connected to said actuating means and adapted upon engagement to maintain said actuating means in engagement with said stop means which is in blocking position and adapted upon disengagement to release said actuating means and to permit said stop means to move to unblocking position. i

5. In a machine for dispensing ice cakes, the combination with a housing, a delivery door there-- in, and an inclined track adapted to guide-the ice cakes to said door, of a stop means adapted in a blocking position to hold the foremost ice cake on the track and adapted in an unblocking position to permit said foremost ice cake to move to said door, an actuating member on said door adapted upon opening of the door to engage and return said stop means to blocking position for the next cake of ice, and a control means adapted normally to engage and maintain said actuating member in a position corresponding to the blocking position of said stop means but capable of being released to permit movement of said actuating member and of said stop means tounblocking position. 9

6. In a machine for dispensing ice cakes, the combination with a housing, a delivery door there-' in, and an inclined track adapted to guidethe ice cakes to said door, of a stop means adapted in a blocking position to hold the foremost ice cake on the track and adapted in an unblock ing position to permit said foremost ice cake to move to said door, an actuating member on said 11-39 door adapted upon opening of the door toen gage and move said stop means from unblocking position into blocking position to holdthe next ice cake, and a control means adapted'norma-L ly to engage and maintain said actuating member in a position to hold said stop means in blocking position but capable of being released to permit movement of said actuating member andof said stop means to unblocking position, said stop means being engaged and returned to blocking 13:)

position by said actuating means before the .door is opened sufiiciently for access to thereleased ice cake. c

'7. In a machine for dispensing ice cakes, the combination with a housing, a delivery door therein, and a guideway adapted to direct ice cakes to said door, of a stopmeans adapted in'a blocking position to hold the foremost ice cake on the guideway in spaced relation to the door and adapted in an unblocking position to permit said foremost ice cake to move against said door; an actuating member adapted upon opening of the door to raise said stop means into blocking posi-', tion, and a control means including a clutch which upon engagement holds said' actuating i member with said stop means in blocking posi-' tion, and which upon disengagement releases said actuating member to permit said stop means to move to unblocking position.

8. In a machine for dispensing ice cakes, the

combination with a housing, a delivery door therein, and a guideway adapted to direct ice cakes to said door, of a dogpivotally mounted, adapted in a blocking position to engage the foremost ice cake on said guideway and adapted in an unblocking position to permit said foremost ice cake to move against said door, and a lever pivotally mounted with respect to said door adapted to be engaged and moved by opening of said door and to move said dog from unblocking to blocking position for the next ice, cake, said dog reaching said blocking position and tilting said foremost ice cake before said door is opened sufficiently for the delivery of said ice cake.

9. In a machine for dispensing ice cakes, the combination with a housing, a delivery door therein, and a guideway adapted to direct ice cakes to said door, of a dog pivotally mounted, adapted in a blocking position to engage the foremost ice cake on said guideway and adapted in an unblocking position to permit said foremost ice cake to move against said door, and a lever pivotally mounted with respect to said door, and adapted to move said dog upon the opening of said door, and a clutch adapted upon engagement to hold said lever with said dog in blocking position and upon disengagementto permit said dog to move to unblocking position, said dog being returned to blocking position and said lever being returned to engagement with said clutch, both beforethe door has-been opened sufliciently for the delivery ,of said foremost ice cake.

10. In a machine for dispensing ice cakes, th combination with a housing, a delivery door pivotally mounted therein, a latch means normally engagingsaid door, anda guideway adapted to direct ice cakes to said door, of a dog pivotally mounted, adapted ina blocking position. to engage the foremost ice cake on said guideway and adapted in an unblocking position .to permit movement of said foremost ice cake against said door and to operate said latch means for release of said door, and a lever pivotally mounted with respect to said door and moved by the opening of said door to move said dog from unblocking to blocking position before said door has been opened sufficiently for access to said foremost ice cake.

11. In a machine for dispensing ice cakes, the combination with a housing provided with a do livery opening, a shaft journaled in said-housing a adelivery opening, a shaft journaled in said housing and extending across said opening, a door forclosing said-opening, provided with a recess and .rotatably mounted on said shaft, and a guideway for directing ice cakes to said delivery opening of a lever positioned to'rotate withsaid shaft and adapted to engage the recessin said door and to be moved upwardly during the opening of said .door, and a dog pivotally mounted within said housing, adapted to block the foremostice cake on said guideway in raised position and to permit movement of said. ice cake toward said door in lowered position, said lever being adapted to move said dog toraised position when the door is swung open.

13. In amachine for dispensing ice cakes, the combination with a housing, a delivery door therein, and a plurality of guideways for direct ing respective rows of ice cakes to, said delivery door, of a plurality of stop means, oneiadja cent each guideway for engaging in blocking posi-. tion the foremost ice cake on that guideway, a plurality of actuating levers corresponding'to' each stop means and each adapted to return the corresponding stop means toblockingposition, and a control means including a plurality of clutches each adapted to maintain .the respece. tive actuating lever with the corresponding stop means in blocking position and adapted to be disengaged successively to permit movement 'of the individual stop means to'unblocking position.

14. In a machine for dispensing ice cakes, the combination with a housing, a deliverydoor therein, and a pair of guidewaysfor directing two rows of ice cakes to said delivery door, .of a pair of dogs each in blocking position adapted to engage the foremost ice cakes on respective guideways, a pair of actuating levers each adapted to return the corresponding dog to blocking position, and a control means including a pair of clutches each adapted to maintain respective actuating levers with the corresponding dogs'in blocking position and adapted to be disengaged alternately to permit movement of the alternate dogs to unblocking position, whereby ice. cakes from alternate guideways are, fed through; said delivery door. v a

15. In a machine for dispensing ice cakes, the combination with a housing,a loading door and a delivery door therein, and a guideway adapted to receive ice cakes from said loading door and to direct them to said. delivery door, -of a brake means adapted in braking position fric-I tionally to engage and retard the, ice cakes .on said guidewayand moved into. said braking posi f tion by the opening of said loading door.

16. In a machine for dispensingice cakes, the combination with a housing, a loading door. and a delivery door thereirnand aguideway adapted to receivev ice cakes from said loading'door and to direct them to said delivery door, and having a movable portion with one end in spacedlrela-fl tion to said door, of a brake means normally in operative but adapted in braking position to en,- gage the ice cakes andretard their movement along said guideway, and connectionsbetween said brake means and said delivery door for moving said brake means to braking position when said loading door is opened and forming aslideway for the ice cakes from the loading door to the guideway. V

17. In a machinefor dispensing ice cakes, the combination with a housing, a cradle guideway swingably supported .in said housing and adapted to support a plurality ofice cakes, andjastaupon the passage of an ice cake therebetweeng MICHAEL assive; 

